


Esperanza's Season

by Lockea



Series: Esperanza's Season [1]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe, Arranged Marriage, M/M, May/December Relationship, Politics, Relationship Negotiation, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-08
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2019-04-20 07:03:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14255547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lockea/pseuds/Lockea
Summary: Hope grows in the strangest of places. For Cloud, a small seed was planted the day he married Sephiroth to unify the territory of Nibelheim within ShinRa’s domain. However, navigating the rocky soil of an arranged marriage is not easy for either of them as they must overcome prejudice and assumptions that threaten to drive them apart.





	Esperanza's Season

**Author's Note:**

> Ahahahahaha... here it is!
> 
> It's been a rough couple of weeks. I'm still breathing, but not much else has happened life wise in the last few weeks. It's been tough. Thanks to everyone who loved Princesses and Promises and encouraged me to write Esperanza's Season. This is seriously dedicated to all of you (even you lurkers).

Cloud knew he shouldn’t be listening at the door. He’d been beaten in the past for doing so but he was curious. He wanted a glimpse – just a glimpse, of General Sephiroth, the man who won the Wutai War. The General and his two commanders were coming, along with a delegation from ShinRa, to negotiate the terms of Nibelheim’s induction into the ShinRa Empire. It was better than a war, all the men and of course the Mayor agreed when they’d convened a few weeks ago after the end of the Wutai War was announced. Afterall, Wutai was larger and full of trained warriors and yet they’d lost just recently. No way would the hunters and trappers of the Nibel Mountains stand half a chance.

“Cloud.” A voice behind Cloud announced and the youth jumped slightly before turning to see Tifa behind him, her dark eyes bright behind the veil that hid most of her face. “You’re going to get in trouble.” She whispered fiercely. She grabbed his hand and dragged him away from the door. Cloud let himself be dragged with a mournful glance at the closed door to the sitting room. The delegation hadn’t arrived yet, but the sound of a helicopter on the outskirts of town had said it would only be a matter of time. “If Father finds you he’ll skin you alive. Come on and help me finish making lunch.”

“All right.” Cloud scuffed his slipper against the floor. The soft house shoes were made of nice material and felt comfortable to wear inside, but they, like the veil that also adorned Cloud’s face, was a sign of his status. A concubine. He followed Tifa back down the hall to the kitchen and waited near the island as she locked the door. When they were alone, both of them unpinned their veils and tucked them to the side. With the door locked, no one would walk in on them so they were free to pull their veils off, revealing their hair and faces, and roll up the long sleeves of their robes. Modesty was a woman’s most essential trait in Nibelheim, and though Cloud was a boy – really more of a young man now that he was sixteen – as a concubine he occupied the same status as a woman in the village. He’d been raised a woman, taught a woman’s chores and work, and would be married off someday by a man chosen by the mayor. If his father was still alive, Cloud was sure he never would have stood for this, but he’d died when Cloud was a baby and his mother had left Kalm because she was in love, never mind the different status women held in the mountains.

Tifa dropped a heavy mixing bowl in front of Cloud, startling him from his thoughts. With a glare of wine dark eyes she handed him the bag of flour and said, “Daydream on your own time. The guests want the very best of Nibelheim cooking, so it’s up to us to make everything perfect.”

“Wait.” Cloud took the flour, but his mouth was hanging open. “You mean General Sephiroth is going to eat my food?” He asked and the bag of flour made a heavy thud as it hit the wooden surface of the kitchen island. “What are we making? Please say cinnamon cake.” It was his specialty and he always made it for his mother’s birthday.

“Oh Planet, Cloud!” Tifa sighed, exasperated and threw her hands up in the air before turning away to dig spices out of the cabinet. “Can you please think about something other than the Hero of Wutai and father of your babies for more than two seconds, for the love of all things holy?” Even so, Cloud knew her exasperation was mostly teasing. If they turned the topic to Lady Grace of Wutai she’d be just as much of a fangirl as Cloud was. All during the war she and Cloud had listened when they weren’t supposed to at doors to rooms they weren’t allowed in when the radio broadcasts on the war were playing. There was information on Wutai’s ninjas in those broadcasts, including the Ninja Queen herself, Lady Tsukiko Godo, the Lady Grace of Wutai. Tifa had been fascinated by the thought of a woman warrior and had emulated her while Cloud pretended to be General Sephiroth when they play sparred where no one would see them acting so uncomely.

“Sorry Tifa.” Cloud grinned at her, completely repentant. “So what are we making?”

“Cinnamon cake, since you were so adamant about it. Cardamom bread for dinner, and sandwiches with some of the salted wolf meat we made a few days ago. Umm… what else should we make?”

“Meatballs for dinner.” Cloud suggested. Meatballs were one of those dishes that everyone in Nibelheim loved when Tifa made. It was better than the food Lutsdotter Holly, the innkeeper’s wife, made.

Tifa nodded. Nibelheim food had it’s own varieties of flavors and traditions, but they didn’t want to go too far into a traditional meat heavy palate.

“Oh.” Cloud remembered something he’d heard on the radio. “We can’t do meatballs or salted sandwiches. General Sephiroth is a vegetarian.” He’d been so confused by the word, Cloud had had to look it up in the dark, stealing the dictionary out from the Mayor’s office late one night, because nobody in Nibelheim, territory of hunters and trappers and gatherers, was a vegetarian. If it wouldn’t have raised suspicion, Cloud might have given the meatless diet a try, but as it was, meat was so much a part of Nibelheim’s diet he’d never have managed it.

“Oh, right.” Tifa sighed and set aside what she was slicing. “All I can think of that doesn’t have meat in it is sweets. We have fresh blackberries. I can make a compote.”

Cloud thought for a moment. “What if we made stew but without meat in it?” He asked. “Just the vegetables and potatoes and we’ll use wine and salting spices to give it flavor.”

“I think that might work. Well, there’s dinner at least. What about lunch?”

“Cinnamon cake with a blackberry compote might be sweet, but it’s filling.” Cloud pointed out. He headed for the cellar, located off the kitchen, and ducked under the low doorway, even as short as he was he still banged his head on the door frame. A few minutes later, he returned with carrots, wild beets, and a head of lettuce. “Salad might be a bit plain, but we can make blackberry vinaigrette instead.” Salad was one of those dishes Cloud’s mom had taught him to make and wasn’t actually of Nibelheim origin. Kalm, the large agricultural area outside of Midgar, was well known for their produce. Cloud’s mom still kept a garden full of Kalm varieties of plants.

Food decided, they set to work, sleeves rolled up and veils off as they worked and chatted about village gossip. Cloud momentarily forgot that one room over his idol was making small talk with the mayor. They were putting the finishing touches on the sandwiches for everyone and the salad for the General when a knock on the door interrupted their flow. “Just a minute!” Tifa called as they washed their hands, rolled down their sleeves, and dawned their veils once more.

Cloud unlocked the door once they were modest again and was surprised at the woman in the dark suit standing in the doorway, her white shirt and dark blue tie contrasting against vibrant curly red hair. Oh, yes. Midgar didn’t differentiate between men and women in the types of work they did. Cloud thought that was weird, but it was one thing to hear that from his mom and another to see living proof standing in the kitchen doorway.

“Hello!” The woman greeted brightly. “I was asked to see if lunch was ready and help you bring it into the sitting room if it is.”

Cloud let Tifa speak as he stepped back and let the woman enter the kitchen. “Just about, ma’am. We’re almost done.” Cloud went back to loading plates and silverware onto a tray while Tifa handled the sandwiches and the bowl of salad with the small pitcher of dressing. “Would you mind carrying the tea into the living room.” Before the guests had arrived, they’d left a fresh pot and cups along with water and glasses in the sitting room. Now they were going to refresh them.

“Sure. It smells amazing in here by the way. I’d heard the mayor’s kids were good cooks but if your food tastes half as good as it smells negotiations are going to go well.”

Cloud nodded. Behind her veil, he could hear the grin in Tifa’s voice. “That’s so good to hear. We heard that the General doesn’t eat meat so we’re making food without meat for him.”

“How thoughtful!” The woman had such a bright personality, but there was an edge to it, as if she was forcing herself to be brighter than she actually was. Cloud could tell because her smile faltered when she caught him looking at her. “Hello there.” She recovered quickly, giving Cloud a little wave. “I’m Cissnei. What are your names?”

Cloud and Tifa glanced between each other. “I’m Concubinus Lockhart.” Cloud said softly. “My ward-sister is Andrewsdotter Lockhart.” Those were their official names, because Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockhart were more like nicknames than legal names.

Cissnei nodded. “Those are interesting names.”

Tifa snorted slightly behind her veil, trying to hold back an unladylike laugh.  Cloud glared at her. “We know.” He admitted. “It’s hard for outsiders to get used to the naming conventions of women in town. Would you mind helping us carry these into the sitting room?” He handed the tray of water and tea to the woman. She took it with a smile.

With one last check to make sure nothing but their hands and eyes were showing beneath the loose robes and veil, Tifa and Cloud picked up their respective trays and made the walk down the hall back to the sitting room, Cissnei going on before them to open the door.

The muffled conversation fell silent as Cloud and Tifa followed Cissnei into the room with trays laden with food. They set them on the serving table against the wall near the door and stepped back, heads bowed and hands folded in front of them.

The mayor, Tifa’s father, said, “Ah, yes. Gentlemen, may I introduce you to my daughter and my ward. They prepared lunch today and are preparing for dinner tonight.”

From beneath lowered lashes, Cloud glances around the room, looking for a glimpse of his hero. And there he was, even though Cloud had never seen a photo of him before – the Silver General, the Demon of Wutai, with hair longer than Tifa’s cascading like silver silk down his back, seated on the couch across from the mayor between two other men who Cloud assumed were his two commanding officers, Commanders Hewley and Rhapsodos. He… wasn’t what Cloud was expecting. Fine featured and almost beautiful, but with legs so long they bumped against the coffee table, his black attire made of leather like the wings of a Nibel Dragon. His green eyes, when Cloud noticed them, were bright like stars. The mako glow of a SOLDIER.

“Daughter.” Tifa’s father was saying. “Please tell these gentlemen what you and Concubinus have prepared for us?”

“Yes sir.” Tifa said. “We made open faced sandwiches with salted Nibelwolf meat and spicy radish sauce, a salad with blackberry vinaigrette for the – for those who don’t eat meat. There’s also a cinnamon cake for desert and cardamom and spice tea to drink.”

“Good, thank you Daughter. You are dismissed.”

Tifa and Cloud nodded and turned to leave.

“Wait.” The silver general, Sephiroth called behind them. Cloud and Tifa turned back around as he rose to his feet a towering giant at six and a half feet to Cloud’s five and some change. He stepped past his companion and paused in front of Cloud, who froze, not realizing he was staring straight up and meeting those vibrant green eyes. “This one is male, you said?”

Across the room, Andrew Lockhart was frowning. “Yes. Though I hardly see why it matters. As I said before, either my ward or my daughter would be a suitable choice for a bride to seal the deal.”

What. _What?_

Oh no. Cloud thought to himself. The mayor had agreed to the terms and was going to marry one of them off to seal it. The thought was atrocious. He’d resigned himself to being married off within the next two years or so, but the thought of leaving Nibelheim – of being married to a stranger (a ShinRa stranger no less) was horrifying. Even more horrifying was Tifa suffering a similar fate. Tifa was smitten with a young man in town. Unlike Cloud, she had hope of making a good match in the town and being well cared for.

“I would see his face before any decisions are made.” The general was saying as Cloud’s shock wore off.

“Why?” The mayor protested immediately. “I understand that customs are different in Midgar, but in Nibelheim women and concubines do not show their faces to anyone outside their family. It would be unseemly for such a presentation to take place.”

“I merely wish to see what this alliance is buying.” The general replied coolly. “Or perhaps Nibelheim is not as cooperative as your emissary led us to believe?”

For a long moment silence reigned in the sitting room before the mayor snapped, “Fine.” To Cloud he said. “Concubinus, lower your veil.”

There was a time, not too long ago, when Cloud had been walking across town, on his way back to the mayor’s house after visiting his mother. Some of the town’s boys had seen him and decided to play a trick on him. They’d cornered him in the alley between the inn and the sundries shop and ripped his veil off his face. Cloud had been so ashamed he’d immediately huddled in the alley until the innkeeper’s wife found him. Lucia –Lutsdotter – Holly had immediately run to fetch his mother, who’d seen what had happened to her son and as a crowd gathered ripped her own veil off her head and handed it to Cloud, her blond curls shining in the late afternoon sun. The mayor had called her a whore with no modesty in front of everyone, but Cloud had been in awe of her fortitude to do what was taboo simple for the good of her son.

It was his mother’s strength he called on as he raised trembling fingers to the clasp of his veil and unfastened it, eyes closed as he tucked the fabric back. He’d never done this before, brazenly showed his face off. Not since he’d dawned the veil for the first time at age eight. Before him, General Sephiroth hummed low in his throat.

“I see.” The general said. “ShinRa will agree to your terms and as a sign of good faith, the arranged marriage between myself and your ward.”

**Author's Note:**

> Remember that comments and kudos are chicken soup for the author's soul. Please at least hit the kudos button on your way out of here or leave a comment. You guys are amazing and I absolutely adore hearing from you no matter what you have to say!
> 
> If you'd like, hit me up on Discord at Lockea#2638. You can also join me on tumblr at [Lockea](http://lockea.tumblr.com) or [Storyteller Lockea](http://storytellerlockea.tumblr.com) for my personal blah blah blah and my writing updates respectively. 
> 
> Thank you and much love to everyone~!


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